Super Saturday by-elections: LNP’s scare campaign hypocrisy

Who can forget the whinging and whining from Turnbull and his team at Labor’s Mediscare campaign at the last election?

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull being confronted by anti Adani coal mine protesters in Caboolture, Saturday. Picture: AAP

About now you should be feeling sorry for the voters of Longman and Braddon, particularly those with a landline. Those poor people are being called by pollsters or party supporters or receive Robocalls almost every day and you must remember that these by-election campaigns have been grinding on over a couple of months. Then there is the added hazard for them of daring to open their front door. To do so means yet another bright eyed Young Labor or Liberal to extol the virtues of their candidate. If you focus for a moment you can almost hear the thumping sound of doors slammed by frustrated voters who want nothing more than a bit of peace.

Both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have claimed the title of “underdog” in Longman. Turnbull has based his claim on the reasonable assumption that this by-election will go the same way as every other by-election over the last century -no government has won a seat from the Opposition in a by-election in that period. Shorten bases his claim by reminding us that the bookmakers have the LNP as favourites and they rarely get it wrong.

The LNP are running a scare campaign against Labor which reeks of hypocrisy. Who can forget the whinging and whining from Turnbull and his team at Labor’s Mediscare campaign at the last election? The Coalition claimed they had no intention of tinkering with Medicare let alone abolishing it, yet Labor persisted. The problem for the Prime Minister was that Mediscare played a crucial role in Labor taking 14 seats from the government. It worked! Now Turnbull wants to make us believe that Labor will open the borders and the boats will be hitting our shores again with all of the accompanying deaths at sea. The fact that Labor’s border protection policy practically mirrors that of the Coalition’s, is completely disregarded. Sure, there are individual MPs and affiliated unions who would open the floodgates (including Susan Lamb, but you can bet your bottom dollar she won’t refer to her personal views between now and next Saturday). Nonetheless, there is Buckley’s chance of Labor altering the fundamental of its policy in this matter as to do so would guarantee defeat at the next election whenever it is held.

Just at the wrong moment for the PM and the right time for the Opposition Leader, the incorrect claim of a distinguished Australian Service Medal for the former Air Force corporal and now LNP candidate for Longman, Trevor Ruthenberg, was revealed by the Courier Mail. Only time can tell how much damage this will do. The Reachtel poll shows the LNP in front 51 per cent-49 per cent but was taken before this controversy could take hold. In any event Reachtel has a history of over-estimating the conservative vote so Labor will not be heartbroken by the result of the poll.

Scare campaigns have always been a feature of politics across the world and Australia has hardly been an exception. They are a feature because if there is enough suspicion around then fear becomes a powerful motivation.

Losing two by-elections in one day has Labor terrified. Failing to win either Braddon or Longman will be the fear our PM takes to bed with him every night this week.